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Endangered gray wolves flourishing in Rocky Mountain region, feds say

By Alison NoonThe Denver Post

Posted:
04/04/2014 01:28:13 PM MDT

This image provided by the National Park Service shows a gray wolf in the wild. (National Park Service)

This image provided by the Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks Department shows a collared gray wolf, part of the Smart Creek trio pack is shown southwest of Drummond, Mont., in the fall of 2009. (Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks)

Gray wolves continue to flourish throughout the northern Rocky Mountain region, and their numbers far surpass the minimums required for recovery in the West, federal officials said Friday.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced the results of an annual population report on the wolves, which are on the federal endangered species list.

The report indicated that at least 78 breeding pairs and 1,691 individual wolves were living in Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, Utah, Washington and Oregon by Dec. 31. Biologists put minimum targets at 45 breeding pairs and 450 wolves, according to a news release.

Mike Jimenez, a biologist at the federal service and editor of the annual report, said the wolf population has increased drastically in the Rocky Mountain region, including expansion into parts of northern Colorado, since being reintroduced two decades ago.

"A lot of people would like wolves everywhere, a lot of people would like wolves nowhere," Jimenez said. "So the idea is that we've secured them in areas where it's appropriate."

Wolves were removed from the endangered species list in Montana and Idaho in 2011 and from Wyoming in 2012, Jimenez said. They remain on the federal endangered species list in western Washington and Oregon, and on state endangered species lists in eastern Washington and Oregon.

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In states except Washington and Oregon, Jimenez said hunting wolves is allowed.

Last year, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposed removing the gray wolf from the federal endangered species list. It was first added to the list in 1973, the year it was created under the Endangered Species Act.